RWBY: NOVA
by Dark Corsair
Summary: A fan fiction of the awesome anime series RWBY. This story starts at season 1 and in an alternate universe. The main character, Solace Krieg, is a retired veteran of an Atlesian SOG force called the Vanguards. He joined Beacon as he felt he could use his skills to protect more people but his classes may be put on hold as an evil force begin to arise he may answer his call to duty.
1. Prologue: Growing Up

6 Years Old

I remember a time when life was a bit more quiet, more dull. I went to school, spend time with friends and had a very loving family. The village I grew up in was small and was on the outskirts of Atlas and Vale and wasn't the richest when it came to money but the only thing that gave us any kind of value was the abundance and variety of dust underneath our village. The Schnee Dust Company took notice of this long ago and established a facility to mine, refine and ship the dust extracted from the earth. The facility damaged the land severely but most people didn't seem to care as they were employed by the company and in turn was able to feed their families. Besides the land being damaged the other problem that arose from the facility being created was discrimination against our own people. My village originally was very open minded and valued equality for all but after Schnee's company came in the Faunus that resided in the village began to be singled out. They were given the most dangerous jobs in the company but was paid the least on top of that I even remember seeing posters that prioritized the human workers over the Faunus. I hated it, I had friends that were Faunus and for me to see this as a kid, it made me want to cry. They were here long before the company ever showed up so I couldn't understand on why so many of our own people would turn against our fellow neighbors, luckily though not everyone felt the same as the company and some including my family tried to maintain the peace. Unfortunately their efforts would go in vein as a very radical group of Faunus heard of the injustices being done to their brothers and sisters and decided to take action, the group was called the White Fang. In a flash the situation in my village turned from the battle for equality through peaceful means to a war zone. Shipments would get hijacked, convoys would get bombed and human workers would get attacked for simply being human. The company didn't take to kindly to these attacks and in response sent in their knights and soldiers to handle the situation. It was chaos, anybody who was smart left before things would escalate while the rest had no choice but to hope that this conflict would pass over. I remember going to school with my Faunus friends together but I also remember seeing some of their families being gunned down by the soldiers as they tried to fight against them and quickly enough they no longer thought that we could be friends anymore. I felt alone whenever I left my home and I felt scarred whenever I stayed inside, unfortunately things would get worse as one day the White Fang made their move and a large contingent pushed into my village and attempted to take it over. My family along with others tried to hide but the White Fang made it clear that they wanted to remove any humans that lived in the village and hunted us down eventually they found us and gathered us. Wanting to send a message to the world the terrorists executed us one by one, my family tried to save me they tried to shield me but that only delayed the inevitable and if anything I was forced to witness their deaths in front of me, the White Fang terrorists was about to execute me as well when out of luck a group of soldiers were able to arrive in time and eliminated the the White Fang that was around me. These soldiers didn't looked like the ones that were with the company, their armor wasn't as colorful and they didn't wear the Schnee's company logo on their chest these soldiers were from Atlas. In a matter of hours the White Fang that attacked my village either retreated or were killed by these soldiers, they never stood a chance. I find out later on that the soldiers that saved us were called Vanguards and that not a lot of us had survived the onslaught and that the remaining survivors as well as the dead were evacuated to the Vanguards' massive air ship, _Unyielding Flame_. When I arrived at the ship I felt scared and alone once again not knowing on where to go I decided to stay by my dead parents side, once I found them. The personnel in the ship had to process the corpses brought aboard and soon enough I was pulled away from them and was given to one of the Vanguards to watch over me. I didn't take it well at first but the Vanguard I was assigned to was very patient and waited for me to calm down before he decided to talk to me. I find out that the Vanguards' name was Master Sergeant Gerald Hunter and that he was one of many soldiers assigned to watch over the surviving members from my village. Through Hunter I was able to learn everything on what had happened to my village, from the cause of the civil unrest to the White Fang's invasion. For awhile I was under his supervision, while with him I always wondered if Hunter was a father, if he was he never told me, he took very good care of me feeding me, keeping me clean and making sure I still received some form of education. For the first time in a long time I was able to feel safe once again. I eventually learn that the Vanguards were looking for the survivors families through out the land so they can drop them off but they weren't able to find mine. This would've been problem for me had I was not given an offer by Hunter to be adopted to him, if I accepted I would stay with him on the ship and would be given a new life. I didn't even give it a second thought, I happily accepted his offer immediately and from then on I was now Hunter's child.

8 Years Old

I remember when they told me on what had happened to Hunter. I didn't understand at the time on why but I was always told that Vanguards were meant to be the best of the best they were given the harshest training and were made to be disciplined so they don't die so when I heard that Hunter's life was brutally taken away I was at a lost. Of course they tried to gloss over his death when they were telling me but after digging into the archives myself I didn't understand on how one of their best operatives could suffer such a terrible fate. I thought after being taken in by them my struggles were over that I was never going to experience the grief I felt in the past ever again but I was wrong. I grieved over his death for awhile then convinced myself that I was fine when deep down inside I knew something was still amiss. Through the will of Hunter I was able to stay aboard the ship and still be with them but I didn't want to see anybody so I spent most of time locked Hunter's room. It wasn't until when the Commanding Officer of this Vanguard unit Colonel Frank Becker pitied me enough to see me. He visited me whenever he could and helped me tried to get over this depression I sunk into. To which I think it worked, whenever he visited me he always talked about the Vanguards' virtues and the importance of being strong in order to survive I would try to ignore on what the old man was saying as I was not in the mood but sub consciously I believe I was actually listening and accepted on what he was saying, eventually I was able to overcome my depression and returned back to normal. I appreciated on the time that the Colonel had invested in me and as of result I found myself hanging around him more and more, trying to learn on how to be as great as him. The Colonel eventually tries to take me under his care but since the legal papers still labels me under Hunter's name it took awhile for word to pass up for my guardian to change but after waiting patiently Colonel Becker becomes my new care taker. Wanting to savoir every moment with my new care taker I tried my hardest to impress him, learning more about the world, politics, science and even taught myself the martial arts the Vanguards used to fight in close quarters. Seeing a lot of potential in me the Colonel authorized, secretly, an unethical experiment; to train a child to be a Vanguard. I was given another offer that could change my life and just like before I accepted the offer immediately, now I only hope history doesn't repeat itself and lose my new father.

10 Years Old

I remember when I finally completed the basic training phase of this project. I spent 2 painful years training to be the ultimate warrior, I was taught the warrior ethos, how to operate different types of weaponry, the means to survive out in the wild, and the importance of loyalty to your fellow brothers and sisters. This path was definitely not one for a child as I was broken and fell mortally ill but even though I was suffering, something in me kept pushing me forward and thanks to my tenacity I was able to survive those gruesome 2 years. Colonel Becker was happy to see me excelling in this project and had high hopes in me in completing the next phase. _I will not fail him_ , I promised myself.

12 Years Old

I remember the second phase not being as hard as the first phase, probably because I was already hardened. If the first phase was to basically train me on how to be a warrior then the second phase was to teach me on how to do operations as I spent countless of hours doing simulated missions. This phase to me was very particularly easy and if anything fun, I learned more about on what the Vanguards actually do and as of result I just became more excited to pass phase two and to be released on the battlefield. My graduation was held in secret in the Colonel's quarters and the people who were all involved participated, I never felt so proud in my life these dedicated people put so much time and effort in me and in the end I was able to come out as young warrior ready to fight. The Colonel congratulated me and greeted me a happy birthday, I almost forgot it myself had he not reminded me. But anyways as a gift the Colonel gave me my own customized Vanguard Armor System as well as a mission, to eliminate the White Fang leadership that survived the attack on my village years ago. I thanked him for the wonderful gift then immediately sought out to eliminate these people for the Vanguards as well as for myself.

I remember being satisfied during the simulated missions whenever I accomplished the objective but now I feel very heavy inside. I didn't bring my personal problems to the colonel or anyone else, maybe this feeling will go away...

15 Years Old

I remember when following orders was just that. The person in charge would tell me on what to do and in my part I would execute them. But now I find myself questioning them in my head, thanks to the training I received I am so far unable to disobey any order given to me, for a soldier that's a good thing but there are orders I'm starting to believe that should not be followed. In the biggest mix up in Vanguards history, thanks to miscommunication I lead a squad to execute innocent civilians in the village of Black Marsh. I was told that the villagers were moved out and that everyone inside were all radical Faunus groups. We bombarded the little village with _Unyielding Flame's_ weapon systems then we were sent down to clean up. I don't know on why I did on what I did, I should've seen the obvious clue that they were all innocent but disregarding that I ordered my squad to open fire. We were merciless and it sickens me to know that we followed those orders. Once we found out on what had actually happened the government did their best to cover it up, damn good job if you ask me. The media was able to televise this as an action done by the White Fang and since there were no survivors left no one could protest against that claim... except for those who had lived through the mission. I addressed my men under command and tried to lighten the mood but it did no good, they all retired from the program shortly after the mission and I haven't seen them since.

17 Years Old

I find myself questioning my loyalty once again, I had joined to impress Colonel Becker and to protect everyone in the land but the previous mission I had undertaken made me wonder on why we were helping them. For a while now I began to notice that the missions we were doing seemed pretty influenced by the Atlesian political affairs, that's not what were all about we're supposed to protect everyone indiscriminately. This feeling of doubt is getting stronger every day, I hope it fades away soon enough this feeling is starting to affect my progress as a Vanguard.

18 Years Old

Well it looks like everything is final, my retirement request was approved and my application to Beacon Academy was approved as well. I was honestly surprised when Colonel Becker approved my requests, I figured that since he invested so much effort in me I would've thought that no matter on what I say to him he'll reject my requests. He even went as far to contact a man named Ozpin to help further approve my application. I said my goodbyes to him but promised that it would not be final, once I get to the academy I'll make sure that my training doesn't go to waste. I hope I'm not too disconnected from the civilian world, it'd be pretty sad if I ended up being a loner.


	2. Chapter 1: First Day of School

Solace stares at the hull of the Atlesian troop transport that is bringing him to Beacon, the ride so far has been smooth, not facing a single turbulent since lift off. he looks to his right and sees the two Vanguards assigned to escort him in the trip, he tried to tell them that they weren't needed but apparently his old man had something else in mind and wanted them to make sure that he made it to the academy safely. The two didn't really bother him at all and if anything they looked to him as if he was their senior, except for the fact that Solace is actually younger than them. One of the escorts is a woman, 26 years old, and holds the rank of 1st lieutenant while the other one is a 23 year old male sergeant the woman and Solace have a history of working together in missions while he's unfamiliar with the sergeant. The woman orders the sergeant to contact the _Unyielding Flame_ to give his report then walks to him and takes a seat.

"So how are you feeling right now sir, you nervous?"

"Why should I be nervous, Faustner? Is Beacon Academy apparently a war zone where people are dying left and right?"

"Very funny sir but that's not on what I meant. Beacon Academy may be a place where huntsman are born but it is still an academy and that means a source for drama and romance, something I highly doubt you have experience in."

"Good to know, and why do you continue to call me sir? I'm not your commanding officer nor am I part of the Vanguards anymore."

"You may not be part of us anymore but we all know on how much you've sacrifice for us, if you weren't there when we needed you then none of us may be standing here now. Anyways sir, I remember my days in school, the drama between girls were crazy, rumors spread like wild fire and the boys... no offense to you sir, but boys were very fun to toy with when I was there."

"Never knew you were a sadist, Faustner. But if what you say is true then it looks like I'll have to keep my head down."

"Don't worry sir, you're pretty cute so I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Thank you?"

"Anytime sir."

The p.a system comes on and the pilot's voice is heard "we're approaching Beacon right now, eta 5 minutes."

"Anyways Faustner, I hope you the best of luck in the Vanguards and that we may see other again in the near future."

"It is a shame you are leaving us sir, but please don't be a stranger. We're your family so we'll be here whenever you need us."

The pilot expertly makes the troop transport go through it's landing procedure allowing the VTOL to land softly. Solace gets up from his seat, grabs his bags and makes his way to the hatch but before he could leave, Faustner, gives him a hug then let's go. As soon as Solace was on the ground the VTOL fired up it's engines, lifting it up back to the sky, afterwards it's engines goes horizontal and flies off back to _Unyielding Flame's_ location. He watches it fly away until it looks like a black dot in the sky then made his way to the exit of the airport. Once there Solace sets his bags down to catch a breather, but then his stomach begins to grumble, he looks around to see if there were any food vendors nearby but is disappointed when he's unable to spot one.

"It's amazing to see that even when trained to tackle any adversity that may come your way, the one thing that will always crush a man's spirit is the absence of food" Solace is startled from the voice and turns quickly towards the source. When he sees on who talked, Solace straightened up his posture.

 _A woman?_ "Sorry ma'am, but who are you?"

"Polite and disciplined, you certainly live up to your profile, Solace. I am Glynda Goodwitch and I am a teacher at Beacon, it is a pleasure to meet you" she extends her arm for a handshake to which Solace accepts. "With greetings aside, I am here to escort you to the room where the first years will stay for the first night. If you have no questions, please grab your bags and follow me." Solace does exactly on what she says and after he grabs his bags he makes sure to stay at least an arms distance from her. "Now I'm sure you're very excited to get a look around of the academy but as soon as you drop off your luggage you're to meet with the head master himself. It seems that he has taken a particular interests in you, am I understood?"

"Crystal clear ma'am."

"Good."

While the two continue their way to the room, Solace takes the opportunity and observes the scenery. The school looked exactly as it did in the brochures he received while on the _Unyielding Flame,_ quiet, peaceful and open. Solace spent most of his Vanguard career aboard the Vanguard flagship so he thought the open space that Beacon provided was a nice change of pace. The only thing that seemed out of place for him was that he noticed two girls arguing about something which led to a small explosion. Had he not have something important to attend to, Solace would've investigated on what was going on. The two finally makes it to the room and Solace places his bags near a book shelf, _this should be an easy place to remember_. Glynda then leads Solace to the head master's office and when they arrive the head master looks like he was waiting for them, with a cane in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other he takes a small sip then walks closer to the two.

"I'm sure I'm not the first to say this to you but I'd like to say it anyways. Welcome to Beacon Academy the birth place of many esteemed huntsmen and huntresses throughout history, I am Ozpin, head master of this school. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Krieg, Becker talked very highly of you."

"Thank you for the greetings sir but may I ask on why you requested to see me personally?"

"Hmm, do you know on what are the requirements in joining my school, Solace?"

"Yes sir, the applicant needs to have spent years in one of the kingdom's prestigious combat schools as well as possessing a very decorated transcript from those schools."

"You're correct, and yet you're here."

"Sir?"

"I'm well aware of your past, Krieg. You're colonel and I have a bit of history of working together and he was kind enough to tell me on who you were. Every single one of my students here spent time at a combat school and fought hard for their transcripts but you on the other hand did not. You fought for survival for not only yourself but for others as well."

"I fought for my family, sir."

"Now when you say family I can safely assume you're talking about the Vanguards?"

"Yes sir... With all due respect, where's this going at sir? I don't understand on why you're questioning me."

"I'm just gauging on what I'm dealing with."

"What are you gauging exactly, sir?"

"You. We've never had a student enroll here with your kind of background before so I just wanted to see if you have any problems that may arise in the near future."

"Sir, if you're worried about my past haunting me then I can tell you this. I haven't spent a single waking moment where I wasn't thinking about the things I've done in the past but I don't let my regrets control me. I've accepted all of the sins I've committed but I made it as my personal objective to repent every single one of them. Which is why I'm here, I want to protect everyone like the huntsmen of the past and I'll do everything in my power to make sure that I don't crumble while on this journey."

"Heh, you know there's an old saying that goes something like this, 'there is no greater enemy one can face than themselves.' Internal conflicts within one self has been the cause of many unfortunate endings for everyone around the world. How do I know you won't be another victim?"

"Because I won't, sir."

Ozpin gives Solace a very stern look then lets out a brief chuckle "looks like we have promising one Ms. Goodwitch. That'll be all Solace, you may return back to the room and get your things settled, afterwards make your way to the auditorium, you wouldn't want to miss your orientation now."

Solace does as he was told and makes his way to the elevator, as soon as he was gone Glynda looks at Ozpin "are you sure that the boy will be fine?"

"You've read his transcript, Glynda. He has extensive combat experience with the Grim, so I think he'll be an asset to us."

"True, or he could be a liability, he's transcripts also read that he hardly has any control of his aura and that he doesn't even know on what his semblance is. Those are pretty important for a huntsman to have in order to their job."

"True, but this is a school after all so let's give him a chance."

"I still say it's a bad idea."

"Well if it'll make you feel better I'll like you to keep a close eye on him and make sure that he doesn't just snap."

Glynda sighs, "I suppose so..."

Solace went to check on his possessions and panics at first when he couldn't spot it at a distance but when he gotten closer to the book shelf he placed it nearby to, he realizes his line of sight was just being obscured by a fellow student. She looks like she was going to settle near the book shelf as well so not wanting to accidentally have their stuff get mixed up he moves his bags a little farther away and makes a definitive gap between him and the girl. Afterwards he proceeds to the auditorium where the orientation was to be held. Once there Solace's breathe was taken away when he sees on how many new students are attending the academy with him, all of them wanting to do the same thing. He tries to mingle with the students inside but it looked like everyone already had their own groups, he continues to look around and recognizes one of the students with somebody. The student he recognized was the girl in the explosion earlier this morning, seeing that he has an opportunity to find out on what happened he walks up to her. But before he was able to begin a conversation, she runs off and leaves the other student behind. The student that accompanied her was a blonde male and he looked very disappointed after the girl left. I approach him to see if he's alright, "hey, you don't look too happy of being here. Is everything alright?"

"Huh, yeah I'm fine. It's just. It looks like I just got ditched."

"Was that girl in red your girl friend?"

"Oh, ah no, she isn't but I uh-" clears his throat. "I mean it'll be nice if she was but anyways I'm Jaune Arc" he extends his arm for a handshake to which Solace accepts.

"I'm Solace Krieg."

"Nice to meet you Solace. Hmm you don't look like you came from here, are you from Atlas?"

"What, makes you say I'm from Atlas?"

"I didn't mean to offend you or anything but the way your dressed is all clean and tight as well as your face."

"Thank you for the compliment, Jaune. But you're not entirely wrong nor are you correct. I did come from Atlas but I didn't attend any of it schools."

"Oh, well then where did you attend then-" Jaune's sentence is interrupted when Professor Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch appears at the front of the crowd and grabs everyone's attention.

"I'll keep this brief... you've traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and to acquire new skills, and when you're finish, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look among-st you and all I see is wasted energy. A need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Professor Ozpin then steps aside and allows Ms. Goodwitch to take the stage. She tells us on what to expect tomorrow and that we should be prepared, afterwards she dismisses us. I turn back around to Jaune to see that he was gone and was with the group where the girl in red was. Solace assumes things weren't going to swell for him because it looked like Jaune was just being teased again, not really wanting to invest himself with anybody else in the room he leaves and decides to explore the campus.

It takes Solace a couple of hours but he finally was able to get a basic layout of the academy and returns to where his luggage was. When he arrives he's surprised to see that the group Jaune was with is actually close by on where he slept. Solace assumes that they were all friends and continues on with his business; setting his sleeping bag out and switching to his pj's, white T-shirt and blue shorts. He then gets himself in a comfortable position and tries to go to sleep, but before everything goes dark he hears that one of the girls near him is related to the Schnee company, _a Schnee is here, huh? Great. I wonder if she's anything like he said his daughter would be._


	3. Chapter 2: Initiation

Solace wakes from his sleep and goes through his morning routine; brushing his teeth, shaving, and washing up. Then afterwards he walks into a room adjacent to theirs to change into his casual clothes. Once inside a fellow student walks to him with a boxed package "hey man I found this by the door. I think it's for you" the student hands the box over then walks away. Solace goes to a corner where he can open the package in peace; he inspects the box and sees that it came from the _Unyielding Flame_ , specifically from Dr. Holly. He opens it and finds a note inside which reads.

 _Hey Solace, we're really sad to hear that you left the program but at the same time we're really proud of what you're trying to do. Anyways we haven't forgotten on what you've done for us so as a way to show our thanks we'd like you to have our latest toy. It's labeled as the DS-1 but everyone here likes to call it "back pack." In layman's terms the back pack stores anything you want by digitizing the item then re-materializes it when you need it in the future; this can be pretty useful when you're carrying all those heavy text books. The back pack just got out of it's prototype stage so please send us feedback on how's it working for you, it'll be really beneficial for future updates. Also, there are some issues with the system when it comes to storing food so until we can find a way to fix this you may experience some problems. Anyways the R &D team here all wish you the best of luck and that we can't wait to see you again. _

_\- Christine E. Holly_

 _P.S I slipped in a little something for you, I'm pretty sure she'll be useful to you._

Solace places the note to the side then takes out the back pack; it was a lot bigger than on what he had expected but it wasn't as heavy, weighing no more than 10 pounds. The backpack came in 3 sets; shin guards, torso and arm guards. He puts the pieces on and once it was secured he tried to activate it, to only get nothing in result. He looks into the box again and he finds a small case. He opens it and sees that a blue micro-chip laid inside along with instructions on how to insert it into the back pack. He inspects the back pack on where he can put it in and finds a slot on the front side of the torso. Once he puts it in, the device's port holes begin to glow, following the tune up an ear piece materializes on his right hand. He puts on the ear piece and right after it's secured he hears a woman's voice, "well hello there Solace. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Huh, who's this?" Solace says quietly.

"I'm Selena. An artificial intelligence created by Dr. Holly."

"Oh, well it's very nice to meet you to, Selena."

"Quite, I was tasked in helping you excel in this academy in anyway I can, which reminds me. I was told to give this to you" the back pack begin to glow bright blue, blinding Solace momentarily. The light then fades away and his sight is restored. He looks down and sees that his Vanguard Armor is now secured on him.

"Wait, what? I thought my armor was back on the _Unyielding Flame_?"

"It was, but right before Dr. Holly shipped the DS-1 to you, she digitally stored your armor inside."

"Nice!"

Jaune comes around the corner to investigate on what the bright light was about and sees a man in full armor. A bit startled he pulls out his sword and shield.

"Jaune, relax it's me Solace" he removes his helmet to show his face to which Jaune complies and puts away his weapons.

"Solace, where did you get... that?" Jaune asks.

"I got it from my back pack."

"What?"

"It's far too complicated for me to explain the science to you so think of it as a very practical and tactical backpack that pretty much weighs like nothing and can summon to me what ever I stored inside, when ever I need it."

"Wow, that'll definitely come in handy when we're out to hunt Grim."

"Yeah, so is there something you need from me?"

"Well I came here originally to get you. Ms. Goodwitch is about to start the orientation."

"Oh, then we better get a move on then" Solace and Jaune then walks to the room where the orientation is to begin. Once the two arrives they decide to be at the back of the room and to stick together. Jaune looks around and notices the girls he was talking to yesterday. He tries to grab Solace's attention.

"Yo, hey man do you see the four girls near the front?"

"I know them, or at least of them. They were sleeping near me last night."

"What! Are you serious? So you're actually quiet the player then huh?"

"Nothing like that, we simply were just coincidentally nearby when we all went to bed."

"Oh. Well anyways I'm trying to woo the girl in white, and so far I think it's working."

"Oh really?"

"No... if anything I think she thinks that I'm a total dork."

"Aw, don't say that Jaune I think you have a chance."

"Really?"

"Well, she may be a bit out of your league but I have faith in you."

"Well thanks. I guess..."

"I got to admit though, you do know on how to pick them."

"Yeah..." the two stares at the girl in white and they would've probably kept on staring had the orientation not start. Ms. Goodwitch, just like yesterday, appears before everyone and begins to give an overview of what she'll be showing to everyone. While she was talking, she reminds Solace of one of his instructors back when he was at basic training. From the moment he met her she gave off a very authoritative, strong-minded presence and looked like she demanded respect and discipline from those who talk to her. Back when he was younger he would have hated to have been around those kind of people but after growing up pretty much for the majority of his life around those kind of people anyways, he's more appreciative to have them around. Ms. Goodwitch finishes her overview then leads the students around Beacon giving them the full tour. During the tour she shows them on where their classes would be, the location of the cafeteria and bathrooms and explained to them explicitly of the rules and regulations that they were all expected to follow. The orientation eventually ends and the students all find themselves on top of a cliff bordering the Emerald Forests with Professor Ozpin waiting for them. Once everyone was accounted for the professor takes control of the group and welcomes them to their "initiation." They are all told that their initiation is for them to be dropped into the forest then to seek out artifacts that the professor has picked to be the objective, while at the same time trying to be smart enough to survive the Grim that infest the area. Ms. Goodwitch then adds to the fact that everyone will be placed into teams today but it wouldn't be done through conventional means; the teams that everyone would be placed in would be comprised of people who you first made eye-contact with upon landing. The group is then instructed to stand on the platforms in the ground and to prepared themselves for the event. Solace takes his spot next to the girl in red clothing and sees her prepare her weapon, he would do the same but he's a bit hesitant on using his new toy.

"Um, where's your weapon?" The girl in red asks.

"I got it."

"Does it go invisible?"

"No, matter of fact they're right here..." Solace raises his fists then chuckles a bit.

"You do know we're fighting the Grim, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well. I guess good luck then-" the girl's platform launches her into the air and into the forests.

"Right... good luck..." Solace's platform activates as well and sends him hurling into the sky. While traveling in the air he realizes that he has no idea on how he was going to get back down safely. He thinks really hard on ways to get down without suffering any serious injuries, but for too long. He ends up going through a couple of weak tree branches before being caught by a strong one afterwards he falls about 50 feet before making a hard landing on the dirt. Solace slowly gets up on his feet then quickly gets behind a tree and gets low to get some concealment, he then examines himself to see if he suffered any injuries and luckily for him the only injury he receive was a sprain left wrist, _must have gotten it when I landed, I guess it could be worse._ He looks around and sees that no one is around him.

"Selena, can you hear me?" Solace says quietly.

"I'm always online so I always hear you."

"Creepy, but anyways how far are the artifacts from my current position?"

"Hmm, my scans indicate that there's a structure 1,865 meters, northeast of your position."

"Any enemies around us?"

"Negative."

"Good" Solace stands up slowly, "Selena, out of curiosity am I packing anything?"

"Yes. Dr. Holly took the time to store your personal armaments from yours days in Vanguard as well and currently so far I'm counting 7 that are digitally stored."

"Hmm, bring out Rot Kometa."

"Right away."

Solace's personal pistol digitizes on his right hand and looks to see if he's good on ammo, _full battery, good._ The pistol that Solace carries around is a Vanguard standard, with a few modifications on it. Just like the rest of the weapons that all Vanguards use it does rely on Dust, but the Dust used is not the projectile itself but acts as a chemical compound that reacts to the materials inside the battery cells instead to create the energy needed, allowing it to shoot lasers and have a high capacity of energy rounds in each pack, eliminating the age old problem of having excess weight for more ammunition. He looks around at his surroundings one more time, _all clear,_ then runs towards the mysterious structure. While running he thinks on what he'll have to do if he were to run into any Grim, with the woodland environment around him, he knew that his pistol was not the best option to use if anything a carbine would have probably been a smarter choice but since his left wrist was sprained there would have been no way for him to have controlled the weapon had he used it. Instead Solace decides that the best way to get to the structure was to be like a ghost and make his presence scarce. Unfortunately though his plan may never actually come to in effect as he's ambush by a pack of Beowolves. He stops immediately and takes aim with his pistol, the pack quickly encircle Solace to prevent any escape then waits for the alpha male to make it's move.

"Selena, what kind of Dust is in the cell?"

"Burn."

"Good" the alpha male runs towards Solace then lunges, he allows the beast to close the distance between them then fires three rapid explosive shots at the Grim's torso causing it to stagger. Without hesitation he then jumps onto the monster's shoulders and places his pistol's muzzle on it's head then proceeds to fire six times causing it's head explode. The Grim's headless body falls to the ground like a bag of bricks with Solace standing over it triumphantly, the rest of the pack goes in a state of shock for a short bit as they just saw it's alpha male killed in front of them but as soon they all got their senses back they all attacked him at once after one of it's members made the initiative to attack Solace first. Normally anyone in a situation like this would've resulted with their demise but Solace, just like his fellow students here, is not a normal person and is capable in taking down Grim in very adverse situation. He quickly dashes backwards to gain some distance while at the same time firing at the pack of Beowolves charging at him, thanks to the Burn Dust the rounds being fired has an explosive area of effect, allowing him to hit his target without actually making direct contact. Three of the seven charging at him are severely injured from the explosives and are knocked out of the fight while the remaining four continue to make a mad sprint towards him. Solace stops dashing backwards then changes direction and runs towards the pack. The Grim sees him coming and all try to slash at him when he was close enough but he was able to react to their attacks quick enough to dodge them. While being that close to the Beowolves, Solace takes his opportunity and opens fire at the four monsters. The close proximity of the enemy made it easy for Solace to aim and in less than 5 seconds the fight was over and he stood victorious.

"Wow, the reports don't lie. You're as good as your records make you out to be."

"Thanks Selena, but I think your compliment is out of placed. These were only Beowolves, I think any huntsman would've been able to take them down."

"You know you got me curious now, if these were considered easy I'd hate to see on what you saw as a challenge."

"Yeah I-" a scream echoes somewhere in the forests and causes Solace to immediately get his guard up "a woman's scream?"

"Probably, one of the students."

"Shit, so either continue with the objective or save fellow classmates."

"Actually that may not even be necessary, my scans indicate that the scream came from the exact location or at least the area of the structure."

"Great, let's hope that there some Grim left for us when we get there" he turns the safety on, on his pistol then continues to run towards the structure.


	4. Chapter 3: White Pawn

Solace arrives at the structure and the source of the scream and is shocked to see that the girls he saw earlier, Jaune plus three other students battling a Death Stalker and a Nevermore. One of the girls, wearing a red hood, was trapped by the Nevermore's feather and is about to be attacked by the Death Stalker when Solace quickly aims his pistol and fires at it's stinger. The Death Stalker shifts it's focus from the girl to Solace now, allowing one of the other girls to dash in and free her from the feather. Solace then leads the Grim away from the group to allow them to come up with a plan. The Nevermore, that has been flying above the battle ground, sees Solace by himself being chased by the Death Stalker and tries to dive in with it's talons ready to stab him. Solace was too preoccupied by the Death Stalker to notice the Nevermore earlier but when he finally does, he tries to come up with a plan to dodge the incoming Grim but in his mind he knew that he was too late and at this point anything he did wouldn't have made a difference in it's attack. Solace just closes his eyes, _so this is on how my life ends huh? Not by the hands of a soldier but a monster? Seems fitting I guess. It does take a monster to kill one._ Sounds of crackling followed by a loud boom then erupts and he opens his eyes. Solace was surprise to see that not only was he alive but a wall of ice has formed around him and trapped the Death Stalker by the stinger while the Nevermore had gotten hit out of the way by a girl wielding a giant hammer.

"Are you alright?" the girl in white asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Good, now what were you thinking? Charging in without any back up like that! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I uh-" Solace is interrupted by a blonde girl.

"Hey, how about we save the lecturing later after we beat these guys!"

Solace and the girl who saved him agrees then quickly gets back into the fight with the others. Jaune sees Solace and asks for his assistance battling the Death Stalker with his group while the girl in white runs back to the others and fights the Nevermore. The girl wielding the hammer takes the opportunity and pummels the Death Stalker to the ground. The Grim is hurt from the attack but the shock of her strike causes the ice that was trapping it's stinger to shatter and allows it to smack her out of the air. But as she falls her hammer transforms to a grenade launcher and she fires explosive shots at the Death Stalker. While the monster is being attacked a man wielding two automatic pistols then goes in, climbs up it's stinger and tries to remove it from the rest of it's body by shooting at it. He was close to dismembering it, as the stinger now just dangles from it's tail, but before he could seal the deal the man is quickly tossed off to the front of the Death Stalker and is about to be stabbed by it's giant pincers when Jaune and the girl with red hair gets to him quickly enough to brings up their shields and blocks the attacks.

"SOLACE SHOOT IT'S TAIL OFF!" Jaune yells at him.

Without a moments hesitation he fires three well aimed shots towards the dangling stinger. The first round was enough to dismember it from the body while the following two rounds were more for show as it causes it to fly a few meters away. The girl with the grenade launcher transforms it back to a hammer then sprints pass Solace and towards the girl with red hair. She then jumps on her shield and is launched about 10 meters into the air before slamming her hammer down on the Death Stalker. The sheer force from her strike now, not only causes the Grim to stagger but also causes it's shell to collapse inward. Solace walks up to it's face and unloads 6 rounds dealing the final blow. With the Death Stalker finally defeated it's body then begins to evaporate slowly until nothing was left of it.

"Wohoo, that was so awesome! I was like bam and you were like ratatatata! You were so cool Ren!" The girl with the hammer praising the man with the dual pistols.

"Hey Solace, nice shooting you did back there. You really have a knack in marksmanship." Jaune says to him.

"Thanks Jaune, it's all thanks to the training I received really."

"Well regardless of the fact, we're grateful of your hard work and your teammates are lucky to have you" the girl with red hair says.

"That would be true if I had teammates of my own."

"Wait didn't you run into anybody while out there?" The girl asks.

"No, I managed to stay out of sight and as of result I found no one."

"Is that even allowed?" Jaune asks.

"I don't know..." Solace then walks towards the structure and sees the artifacts he was supposed to retrieve. He grabs the closes one to him, _a pawn? How fitting..._ "but all I do know is that I completed the objective and helped save fellow students."

"Fair enough, should we go and help Ruby's team now?" Jaune says.

"Ruby?" A loud squeal echoes to the forest and the group all looks up to only be surprised. The girl with the red hood was on the side of a mountain and was sprinting upwards with the Nevermore being dragged along from the neck by her scythe. She was stepping on weird looking symbols on the side of the mountain, which looked like it was boosting her speed, and by the time she reached the top her scythe goes through the Nevermore's neck, slicing it clean of it's body. The head lands next to her while the body falls downwards to the base of the mountain. Everyone doesn't say a word and just stand there in amazement. _So her name is Ruby._

5 hours later at Beacon's Auditorium

Solace awaits nervously for his name to be called up as Professor Ozpin calls the teams together. He didn't really care at the time since he was in the moment but the more he thought about it the more he began to regret the fact that he didn't run into any other students while in the woods. Jaune's name is called up along with his teammates Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, making team JNPR and it makes Solace a bit jealous that he was able to get a team together but not him.

"And finally the man who collected the white pawn, Solace Krieg" Ozpin announces.

The crowd falls silent as no one else but he walks to the spot light. Nobody could recall a student being called by themselves so they were confused on what was going on.

"Now I remember saying earlier that anyone you link up with in the forest will be your partners for the rest of your time here, and yet here you are alone. But you were able to fight off Grim that came your way, assists your fellow hunters and retrieve your objective so to me I'd say you coming back without any teammates isn't that big of a deal. Thankfully though we do have a protocol that deals with people in your situation. You shall be given the title NOVA, No Vocational Associates. You shall be by yourself until we are able to find compatible students to work with you but till then you shall work as an asset to other teams assisting them in whatever way they need you too."

"I am humbled, professor."

The ceremony ends with Ozpin saying his closing speech and the students either left the auditorium or stayed to mingle around with the new teams, Jaune and his team decides to talk to Solace.

"Hey, Solace how you doing right now man?" Jaune asks.

"Honestly I'm feeling great. I was really worried that they would've dropped me or something but being labeled as NOVA instead isn't that bad."

"Who do you think they'll pair you up with?" Pyrrha asks.

"No idea, but I'll make sure to do my best with whoever I work with."

"Uncertain of your future but you still persist in going forward, you truly are a pawn." Solace turns around to see Ozpin behind him. "Now please do not take this as an insult but rather as a compliment. Just as a white pawn, regardless of the enemies you face you'll move only forward never looking back and since you're a white piece you'll always make the first move."

"Thank you professor, that really means a lot to hear that coming from you."

"I'm only hear to help all of my students attain their dreams in becoming a hunter. Now I wanted to discuss with you about your status as a NOVA. Alone." The rest of JNPR leaves the two which allows them to talk the two in private. "Listen to me very attentively Solace as I will only share this once. Your position as NOVA was no accident. I am fully aware of your past and what you've been involved with so when it was time for you to go through the Emerald Forests I predicted that your training would have kicked in and you would left the forest partner less but with your objective done. So just in case I was right I may have created a new position in the academy and may have given it a fake background. But let's keep that between us alright?" Solace nods. "Anyways I'll try to find compatible students with you as quickly as possible but until then your first team to work with shall be RWBY's. Now don't let your little fantasies kick in as you won't share a room with them. Since you are essentially a lone asset you will be given a room for yourself."

"Sounds like I'll end up a loner."

"A price to pay for being a NOVA. Don't let this bring you down Solace, being by yourself isn't always a sign of weakness. Being in the military alone should've taught you the importance of working as a team but if you were to see someone survive the battlefield alone, that would prove that they are just as if not stronger than their brothers."

"I guess so professor. Anyways thanks for everything I promise to not disappoint you sir!"

"I know you won't."

Solace feeling tired goes to his new room and sees the it's still meant for four people making it very spacious. But after lying down on one of the beds and seeing that there are three empty ones he couldn't help but feel very alone. It's not something he's not used to as there were missions he accomplished where he was isolated for long periods of time but to know that there are supposed to be more people here with him. The thought didn't really sit too well in his mind.


	5. Chapter 4: Old Habits

Solace wakes to find himself in an unusual situation. He is very well aware that he is at Beacon Academy and should be in his room as he is still wearing his pajamas and yet he's not, the room he is instead inside of resembles a cabin, _this can't be right?_ Although he doesn't recognize the cabin room, everything about it feels eerily familiar, as if he's been inside of it before. He walks around the room and makes a more detailed observation; the cabin room had only one door and window; he tries to look outside but it is late at night and no moon was out to illuminate the land, making it too dark for him to see anything. The floor sounded pretty old as every step he made caused the wood to creak, the walls were decorated with photos of people he doesn't know but feels like he's seen before and there was only four pieces of furniture found inside, a spring mattress being supported by rust covered metal frames, a night stand, and an ordinary cheap wooden chair along with a table. While looking around Solace felt like something was also in the room with him as if it was trying to grab his attention, he turns around towards the source of his uneasiness and sees that it was coming from a photo hanged on the far left side of the wall. He walks closer to it and sees that the picture was of a very young Faunus girl, no looking older than 6 years old; the young girl had blonde hair, vibrant golden eyes, a white skin complexion and cat ears along with a tail. While observing the photo the glass cover suddenly cracks, startling Solace a bit and making him take a few steps back, afterwards the scent of smoke becomes present and the sound of a child crying came along with it. The sources of these two came from behind the door and so Solace quickly opens the door and rushes room he rushes in was caught in flames and sees that the child he saw in the photo was in the middle of the room trying to drag both of her parents out of there, who appears to be passed out. Solace immediately runs towards her to help the child out but was a bit surprised when he just realizes that he was in his Vanguard uniform and armor all of sudden, pushing his thoughts aside he continues to run towards her and when he finally arrives he was again surprised by the fact that her parents were actually dead not passed out; the two bodies had three holes in their torsos, suggesting that they were gun downed. He grabs one of the parent's arms and tries to lift the corpse up but was stopped when the little girl pushed him away from her mother and father.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM YOU MURDERER!" After pushing Solace away the child stood in the way between him and her parents.

The fire becomes more intense as a wooden rafter from the ceiling came crashing down next to both of them, not wasting anymore time Solace makes the decision to get up and pick the girl up against her will then rushed out of the wooden home via the front door; the structure was coming down very quickly and the fire was only getting stronger so he had no choice but to leave her parents corpses behind. Once the two got outside and was a safe distance from the building he puts her down, but not wanting to leave her parents behind she tries to fight Solace to let her through to get to them, but he wouldn't allow it, trying to tell her that she would only get herself killed if she does. Realizing that he was right the child breaks down into tears and collapses onto her knees, Solace turns around to look at the house and sees that the fire was not a natural one but was being intentionally spread by fellow Vanguards equipped with flamethrowers.

"Why? Why did you kill them but not me?" The little girl asks while still crying.

"What are you saying I didn't-" he looks onto his arms and notices blood splattered around them, as well as his torso; he checked to see if it was his but he wasn't injured at all.

Eight more Vanguards arrived to rendezvous with him and recognizes one of them; it was his closes friend in his unit 1st Lieutenant Blue Falcyn. "So you found another one hiding?" The eight men begin to encircle him and the little girl.

"What are you talking about? Why are we doing this?" Are the words he wanted to say but instead he says "yeah, she came out of hiding after I eliminated her parents."

"Did you have a struggle with civies?" Blue asks.

"Don't mock me, they were taken out easily."

"Well shall I do the honors or-" hands his pistol to Solace, "should you finish on what you started?"

Solace takes the pistol then aims at the child, _wait, wait, wait, I don't want to do this! This isn't what I wanted to do!_ No matter on how hard he tries he couldn't stop his body from moving, it's as if everything has already been put into motion and he's only there to suffer through the ride. The little girl's weeping begins to slow down and she looks up slowly towards Solace to see him aiming his weapon at her. The Vanguard's armor comes with a helmet that fully covers the user's head, making sure the enemy cannot see the operator's face but even though she can't see it, Solace has the look of regret as he simply just doesn't want to pull the trigger, but instead all she saw was a mirrored version of herself on his visor. In the back of his mind he's trying to tell himself to not do it, that this is wrong but out of nowhere he hears a very familiar voice in his head, _you are to follow your orders to the letter if you want to save not only yourself but everyone else as well._ He pulls the trigger then immediately everything goes black before waking up back in his room and rushing towards the toilet in his bathroom, once there he begins to throw up immensely. He spends the next 10 minutes regurgitating everything that he ate last night into the toilet before pulling himself together and seeing on what time it is. The clock read 0500, which was perfect since it gave him enough time for an early morning run and since it was so early in the morning nobody else was awake wandering around, making his run rather peaceful. The sun had not risen during his run making the morning air very crisp and cool, the perimeter of the academy was his track and after running for about an hour his mind was once again cleared and he returns back to his room to shower. While washing up he tries to make sense on what he was dreaming and realizes that he was reliving the Vanguards most tragic operation on Black Marsh. The girl he saw in his dream was one of many innocent victims who had been executed by him and his brothers, the Vanguards fought those who caused nothing but sorrow and strife and on that fateful day the noble warriors were blinded and accidentally became that which they sought to destroy. In the end all of the Vanguards he fought with for years left the program and was never heard of from again, leaving him a captain without men to lead. To this very day the whole mishap still makes him sick to his stomach as he demonstrated earlier and he wishes that he could've denied the order but you just can't change the past and the only thing he could do now is learn from the whole mistake so it doesn't happen again in the future. He finishes up his shower, shaves his face, gets dressed then puts on his back pack, his books and other school supplies were already inside so with everything all set for the day he locks up his door then sets off to go to team RWBY's room. He figures that since he will be working as an asset to them he should introduce himself. Solace makes it to their hallway and hears yelling from one of the room, he continues to walk forward then sees Weiss Schnee leaving and looking pretty angry. She sees Solace ahead of her and takes the time to greet him.

"Hey, aren't you the guy that fought the Death Stalker and Nevermore with us?"

"That I am, my name is Solace Krieg. Captai- er, I mean retired captain of Sanguine Company, 1st Vanguards." The way Weiss presented herself reminded Solace of all the higher ups he used to talk to, demanding respect but doing so with elegance, but at the same time she was also giving off a vibe that told Solace that she was really sheltered and if anything spoiled.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Solace, I'm Weiss Schnee heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Really, you're related to the man who owns the Schnee Dust Company?"

"As the name implies."

"Well funny you mention that, cause I actually had talked to your father while working with the Vanguards."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, I was assigned to be his personal body guard for awhile and me and him would occasionally talk whenever he wanted to."

"Huh, listen I was going to go to the cafeteria and grab breakfast would you care to join me?"

"I'd love to." The two then traveled together to the cafeteria.

"So you claimed that you were in the Vanguards? I've never heard of them before, what are they some kind of Atlesian military unit?"

"Yes, they're a Atlesian Special Operation Group, their sole job is to hunt down anybody or anything that is going to unleash strife and violence onto the innocent. It's also good that you've never heard of them, the less people that knows of us, the easier it becomes to do operations stealthy."

"How did you get your rank of captain? You look very young so I can't imagine you being with them for that long."

"Actually I have. The details of how long I've been with the Vanguards are completely classified but I'll tell you this, the lessons I've learned from my time there can put my level of wisdom on par with most adults."

"Wow, you sound like some kind of secret agent."

"Heh, very funny."

"But being serious though, did you really worked with my father that closely and also how did that even happen?"

"A while back your father was going around inspecting his refineries out in the hot zones and needed some protection. He learned that we were around maintaining the peace at that area and requested for security personal, I was one of few who were sent to look over him and in the end he enjoyed my company so much that he requested to have me protect him. He's the reason on how I even heard about this school, actually."

"Oh, did he by any chance ever talked about me while you were with him?"

"He didn't talked about you a lot but he did every now and then. It sounded like he wanted to be back with his family rather than be out here ensuring his company staff wasn't being harmed."

"Didn't sure as hell looked that way whenever he leave..." she says quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking out loud, that's all. Anyways that's pretty cool to know you served my father and now go here with me, small world?"

"I agree." The two arrives at the cafeteria and grabs their meals before sitting down and eating together.

"So how do you like it here at Beacon Academy so far?"

"It's pretty nice, the uniform and the teachers remind me of the military life a bit but I do like the relatively quiet environment the school gives off."

"Relative quiet?"

"The absence of the worry of combat. Back then I remembered being constantly stressed with everyone if this would be the day we all go out again but since this is a school I don't feel too tense."

"Well that's good to hear, the academy is suppose to help train Huntsmen after all."

As the two enjoy their meal the rest of team RWBY arrives at the cafeteria as well and sit down next to the two.

"Whoa, who's this you're new boyfriend?" Yang asks teasingly.

"For your information, this is Solace Krieg and he's a friend." Weiss rebuttals to Yang and deep inside of Solace's mind something about her remark causes him a bit of pain.

"Ouch. You really are an ice queen, aren't you?"

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

"Look, I apologize for my friend's denseness but trust me. With enough warmth you can melt her Weiss heart." As Yang finishes her sentence Weiss blushes from embarrassment and Solace was left confused.

"Yeah... thanks for the advice. "

"Remember just Yang in there! Eh? Eh? You guys?" the rest of RWBY didn't think her joke was as amusing as they either just shook their head or smacked their forehead in disappointment.

The group enjoyed their breakfast together and were mingling fairly well when something a few tables away had grabbed Solace's attention. A Faunus girl was being teased, by who he recognized as Team CRDL, Cardin was grabbing onto her ear and it was clear that she was being irritated. The students around them ignored the scene and hoped that a teacher would stop it but this only angered Solace even more. Seeing no one was willing to do anything he slowly gets up from his seat.

"Where are you going, Solace?" Ruby asks.

"Don't worry I'll be right back I'm just going to dump the trash away" he then walks towards their table.

"Wait, shouldn't you bring your tray with you?"

"Ruby, just be quiet and watch" Yang insist.

"What do you mean? Ohhhh."

Solace finally arrives where team CRDL is, and the whole team shifts their focus to him while the Faunus girl was still in Cardin's grasps.

"What the hell do you want?" Cardin asks.

"Excuse me, but why do you have your hands on her? She clearly doesn't like being touched that way."

"Please don't get involve, you'll only make it worse!" The Faunus responds.

"Who the hell are you to question me like that?" Cardin asks.

"Aren't you the guy with no partner?" Russel, one of his teammates, asks.

"Oh yeah, you know it's dangerous for a huntsmen to go alone. It's even considered suicidal." After Cardin says this his pals behind him began to make some dangerous gestures.

"That may be true but my question still stands."

Cardin looks at the Faunus then back at Solace and smiles. He squeezes his grip on her ear and causes her more irritation and Solace began to clench his fists. Cardin's friends sees this and prepares themselves if Solace attacks "I'll tell you what I'll let her go but I'll need a new person to play around with. Do you want switch spots with her hero?"

"Sure, but I'll warn you I don't like being touched and will fight back."

Cardin laughs then lets her go, to which she gets away from them, then stands right in front of Solace. The man stands a full head taller than Solace and tries to look down on him to intimidate but he wasn't afraid at all, if anything he wants Cardin to fight him. Back when he was with the Vanguards they didn't tolerate any form of bullying and were taught to handle it in anyway possible if it does occur, which usually meant in beating down the aggressor. Solace had his fair share in fighting these degenerates back to their place and was more than happy in doing the same to him and his friends. Cardin finally makes his move and grabs Solace's left shoulder with his right hand, to which he responds by grabbing the right hand with his and twists it backwards then forces it to bend downward with his thumb. Cardin in turn then falls to one knee and screeches out in pain. "You know, degenerates like you are the reason why people like me fight." The rest of CRDL get up and tries to get closer to Solace but stops their advance when he presses down again on Cardin's hand, making him scream in pain. One of Cardin's pals, Russel, decides to go in anyways and gets Solace to let go of Cardin. He tries to use his tray to smack Solace's head but was kicked in the gut first, causing him to lose his grip, then gets smack at the face by the very same tray. Cardin got himself back together and tries to grab Solace but he was too quick, and he was able to dodge his grapple by doing a spinning motion to get behind him. Dove and Sky, the other members of CRDL, ended up behind him and the two were able to hold down Solace by grabbing his arms as tight as they could. Cardin turns around and prepares to use Solace as a human punching bag.

"I'll teach you on what happens when you mess with team Cardinal!"

Solace waits for Cardin to walk just a bit closer and once he was close enough he raises his legs up onto the air and kicks the left side of Cardin's face with his right foot and tries to kick the other side with the other foot but was unfortunately caught by him. Cardin felt confident from catching his foot but was blind to the fact that by holding on it allows Solace to contract his left leg, bringing Cardin closer and once close enough again he wraps his other leg around Cardin's neck then flexes to choke him. Dove and Sky were shocked from the move that Solace performed and loss their grip on him for a second; which was all he needed as he was able to free himself from them then quickly traps both in a guillotine head lock on each arm. From their he knew he had won as all he needed to do was hold them down for a couple more seconds before they passed out. But Russel got back up and saw on what was going on and tries to desperately save his comrades from Solace's grapple; he tries everything from punching, to kicking and to even using his tray again but unfortunately Solace was set on to what he was trying to do and doesn't let go and within a few more seconds the three losses consciousness and falls to the floor. Solace then slowly gets up and sets his eyes for Russel; while he was in the Vanguards he'd learned of something called the killer's intents. A state of mind in which every predator enters that gives off the feeling of animosity to their prey. This little trick has saved countless amounts of Vanguards as they've been able to deter conflicts that could've happened. This situation is a good demonstration on how powerful the killer's intent can be as he was able to get Russel to turn the other direction and runs from him. Solace felt relieved that he had won the conflict but when he looked around he saw his fellow students just shocked on what they had witnessed and whispers of him can be heard among the crowd.

"WOO, WAY TO KICK THEIR ASSES SOLACE!" Jaune yells in the crowd then proceeds to clap. Others must have been waiting for him to say that as they all began to clap as well.

He walks back to where RWBY were and there he was praised for his skills but they'd prefer it that he'll fight them when they're in the arena and not in the cafeteria. He agrees to their terms, very reluctantly, then the group gets up and goes to Professor Goodwitch's class.


	6. Chapter 5: Camaraderie

Team RWBY and Solace arrives at Goodwitch's class about ten minutes early and the class, or more like an arena, is fairly empty of students. The group takes a seat in the middle area of the stands. Weiss sits down next to Solace and once she settles down, she turns to him "so mind explaining to me on where you learned on how to fight like that?" The others of team RWBY were also curious about this as well and asks him something similar.

"Well I learned it back at Atlas."

"What school teaches you on how to fight like that? I came from Atlas too and I don't remember any school teaching your kind of fighting style, it seemed so messy." Weiss asks.

"I didn't come from a school, I came from a military-"

"Academy?" Yang interrupts.

"No, military unit."

"Wait what?" Yang asks in confusion.

Before Solace could explain himself the good Professor Goodwitch finally arrives and by this time the stands were full of students. " Good morning class, as all of you know I am Professor Goodwitch and will be your instructor for this semester. The class I'll be teaching shall be one that will test the skills you developed while you all were at your respective schools. The reason you will all participate in this is so we can break the mold that you've grown comfortable with. The battle with the Grimm will not be as methodical as the teachings your schools imply so to simulate this, we'll have you spar your fellow students. The screen above the arena will display each students aura, the first one to nearly deplete their aura loses." The screen then shows the students faces on it and begins to randomize the first contenders to be paired were Pyrrha from Team JNPR and Dove from CRDL and judging that he didn't have a problem fighting his whole team by himself, Solace believes that the fight was in Pyrrha's favor and turns back to Team RWBY and whispers to them.

"When I was young my village was attacked by the White Fang and the people that rescued us from them was an Atlesian Special Operations Group called the Vanguards."

"Wait why did the White Fang attack your village?" Ruby asks.

"Probably to stop the unfair treatment that was being done on the local Faunus?" Blake suggests.

"What makes you think that?" Weiss asks.

"Well because the White Fang doesn't attack anyone for no good reason" Blake answers.

"How could you possibly know that? The White Fang are nothing more but thugs who causes nothing but trouble!" Weiss responds.

Weiss's response causes Blake to get irritated, as her facial expression implies, but before things could get out of hand Solace proceeds to talk again, "Blake's right. A couple years back a refinery was set up nearby by the Schnee Company to refine the extracted Dust from my village and around that same time discriminant behavior became more apparent to our fellow Faunus neighbors. Some of the locals tried to defend them but they were only able to do so much and proved to be useless. My family were on the side defending the Faunus, before I had lost them to the White Fang."

Blake's facial expression changes from irritation to empathy, "I'm so sorry for your lost Solace. Your parents sounded like they were good people, it's a shame they became casualties."

"See, the White Fang are nothing more but a menace to our society." Weiss interjects.

"Okay you need to-" Blake stops herself from getting really angry and calms down. "Aside from the attack that doesn't explain on where you got your training."

"Right, after the attack the survivors were assisted by the Vanguards to relocate with their families. Unfortunately I had no one left so one of their members took the responsibility of adopting me. I would stay with him for awhile before losing him as well from the White Fang again and afterwards, my current adoptive father, the commanding officer of the unit adopts me and has me go through an experimental program of training soldiers from a young age. From 8 to 12 years old, I spent the whole time learning the art of war and at the end of it I was given my first assignment. From then on I built my fighting style from the situations I've come across and Weiss. The reason my technique seems messy is because when it comes down to it whether your fighting Grimm or people what dictates your survival is not technique but your will to do on whatever you can to win."

The fight between Dove and Pyrrha ends exactly on how Solace, and pretty much everyone else here predicted, the two then leaves the arena and the screen begins to randomize again. The whole class watches in anticipation as all but Jaune were eager to be put on the screen, after randomizing for 10 seconds the contenders are picked, Solace and Cardin. Ruby and the others all look at him and gives out words of encouragement with Yang's comment sticking to him the most, "this time you can kick his ass officially!" Solace then makes his way to the locker room and prepares for the sparring match, he goes to his locker and switches from Beacon's uniform to his huntsman fatigues then digitally summons Rot Kometa on his right hand and an ear piece on his left. He puts the ear piece on and once done Selena comes online, "Selena, I'm going to need you to do me a favor. When I say ,'Cardin,' summon Twitch for me."

"If you say so, is there anything else that you would like for me to do?"

"No." The doors on his end of the arena opens up and he walks forward to the center where Cardin was doing the same on the other side. As soon as the two were in position a count down, starting from five, appears on the screen and once the counter hits zero the match began. Cardin takes the initiative and lunges at Solace, smashing his mace towards him, but fortunately was unable to connect the hit as Solace quickly moves back to dodge and his mace is implanted onto the ground. Cardin lifts his mace up and upon doing so, Solace gets a bit worried as his weapon left a small crater on the floor. After freeing his weapon Cardin lets out a chain of attacks, he makes sure that each swing is quickly followed up with another as he didn't want Solace to get away from him. Fortunately for Solace he's able to be quick on his feet and backs away from Cardin far enough to fire burn rounds at him safely. But just before the rounds were able to explode Cardin manages to swing all of the rounds that were heading towards him out of the way, this surprises Solace and is genuinely impress on how quick his reflexes could be. Nevertheless he didn't allow this revelation to stump him and runs towards his opponent while at the same time changing the dust in his pistol from burn to ice, Cardin smiles from Solace's brave charge and runs to him as well but at the same time he prepares his mace for a swing. The two quickly closes in the distance between them and just like before Cardin swings first but misses once again and without a moments hesitation, while the mace was still in the ground, Solace fires a single ice round at it; once the bullet makes an impact with Cardin's mace, ice began to quickly form and spread from the weapon to Cardin's arm and also to the ground. With the weapon and his arm completely encase in ice he's left unable to attack, quickly taking the opportunity Solace shoots at his opponents feet to freeze him into place then follows it up with an uppercut to Cardin's chin. Cardin receives the full power of Solace's punch as he was forcefully removed from his icy trap and fell back a few feet. But he's a lot tougher than he was back at the cafeteria when the two were fighting and he gets back up and charges at Solace again. Cardin looks like he's hit his limit as he's completely relying on his brawn rather than his brain to win. But in doing so the fight is now heavily favored for Solace as Cardin is unable to think of anything but landing a hit and taking this into consideration Solace shoots ice rounds ahead of Cardin's path causing him to lose his footing and slip onto the ground. The momentum he built from his charge causes Cardin to slide towards Solace and was only stopped when his face made contact with Solace's foot.

"Cardin" Solace says.

"What?" Cardin is left in confusion and Twitch, a knife, materializes onto Solace's left hand. He then begins to caress the front of Cardin's neck with the spine of the knife then presses a button on it's grip that unleashes 50,000 volts of electricity onto his body for about 6 seconds. But 6 seconds was all it took as Cardin was left incapacitated and unable to fight in the end and so the match goes to Solace.

"Excellent job there Mr. Krieg, way to use his own anger against him. I doubt that you'd have any problems qualifying for the Vytal Festival either" Glynda comments.

With victory secured he returns back to the locker room and stores his gear and uniform to it's rightful place then returns back to Team RWBY and the group watches the next upcoming sparring matches together.

"So back to what we're talking about. So you mean to tell us you've been fighting with a military unit since you were a kid?" Weiss asks.

"Yes I have" Solace answers.

"No way, that sounds like complete bull" Yang says.

"I know it's hard to believe but that unit was my life for the longest time and it's only now that I'm experiencing this much freedom. Also I apologize if I do anything too weird in the future, I'm still getting use to this."

"Wow, that's pretty kick ass, we shouldn't have any problems in the upcoming festival then if you're with us" Yang says.

The team didn't ask anymore question from then on and went back to watching the matches that were going on, except for one. Through out the remainder of the class Blake was looking down on her scroll instead and had a look of concern on her face. When the class was finally done, Blake tells the team that she wants to be left alone and walks in the opposite direction of the team once they left the classroom, Solace didn't like the face she was donning in class and only became more concerned from this sudden departure and so he decides to follow her to see if they can talk privately. But unbeknownst to him Blake easily figures out that she's being shadowed and leads him to the side of the academy and once the two were out of the view of the students she stops to confront him.

"I'm going to assume that you never learned the concept of being left alone?" Blake asks.

"I'm sorry Blake, but you got me worried back in the classroom and that sudden want of being left alone didn't help the situation either" Solace reveals himself and says.

"Worried about what?"

"Worried that you were suicidal?"

"What?"

"It may sound silly to you but I had good buddies of mine who took their own lives back when I was with the Vanguards, buddies who had saved my life countless of times and they all exhibited the same actions like yours. I don't want to lose you too Blake, not while I'm around."

Blake laughs from Solace's claim, "you're a real idiot aren't you?"

"I'm confused."

"I'm not suicidal, Solace, I was just worried about the recent White Fang activities that the news was reporting. Apparently they started operating in Vale now and it just got me a little on the edge."

"Why are you so interested in the White Fang, are you part of them or something?"

"No, Solace. But let's just say that I've had personal encounters with them since I was a kid as well ."

"Then I guess we have something in common after all?"

"Wrong again Solace, you and I are nothing alike, trust me. But anyways I appreciate you being concerned about me but please just go away. I just want to be left alone in my thoughts."

"If somethings bothering you Blake you can talk to me about it. I may not be part of your team officially but I still do care about people's well being-"

"Solace! It's fine, nothing is wrong with me. I promise you I'm not suicidal if you're still worried about that."

"Well, okay if you say so. I'll see you around then?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later."

Solace turns around and starts walking away but as he walks he turns his head and looks at her one more time and he sees Blake giving him a soft smile and waves good-bye to him. The two soon loses their line of sight of each other and Solace returns back to the academy to which he quickly runs into Weiss as soon as he enters, "there you are! We were wondering on where you went?"

"Hey, Weiss where's Ruby and Yang?"

"The two are off in the library we're all suppose to meet them there. So anyways where did you go?"

"I was tailing Blake."

"Why?"

"I got worried about her during class and so I thought maybe I can talk to her and see on what's wrong."

"Oh, well don't worry about her she's been like that ever since we've been paired up so I'm pretty sure it's nothing to be stressed out about. Anyways you ready to go?"

"Yeah let's not keep them waiting." They go to the library together. "So why are they at the library, we don't have any upcoming tests?"

"I believe they went there to study more about huntsman history and further their knowledge about the Grimm."

"You really think so?"

"I hope so" but as the two finally arrives at the library and locates their teammates Weiss was disappointingly shock to see that they weren't studying but rather playing a board game.

"Hey you two, you're just in time to join in our game of war!" Yang greets Solace and Weiss.

"Well Weiss just like life, sometimes your hopes and dreams are crushed" Solace says before taking a seat on one of the available chairs.

"Why are you two playing a board game in the library?" Weiss asks.

"Cause we don't have anymore classes till tomorrow and we found it here and we were bored?" Ruby answers.

"In a library!?" Weiss says.

"Yeah, so are you going to stand there and complain or will you be joining us?" Yang asks.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Weiss answers before taking a seat on the other chair.

For the next couple of hours the group plays Remnant: The Game, a strategy-based board game where each player takes control of the four kingdoms and tries to dominate the world; with Ruby, Solace, Weiss, and Yang playing as Mantle, Vale, Vacuo and Mistral respectively. The game goes by pretty quickly in the beginning as the three gangs up on Weiss's forces as she is unfamiliar with this game and it's rules so in turn gets knocked out with ease. Then Ruby is left powerless as Solace and Yang forms an alliance and is forced to fight a multi-front war with the two and without mercy Mantle is torn apart. Afterwards the two remaining super-powers drag their battles on with both sides loosing some battles and winning others but ultimately neither were able to win anything significant to actually claim victory. But as they wage war Yang notices that Solace has been holding onto three-cards for the past two hours and becomes curious on what they could possibly be, "you know we've been fighting for awhile now and have lost so many, you've proven yourself to be quite the worthy opponent. How about we call this a truce and rule over our respective territory?"

"Although on what you say is true, you and I have been at war for so long that we can only end this in one way." Solace says.

"You guys, it's been 5 hours. Are you guys done yet?" Weiss asks.

"Ha, ha, ha my dear subject Weiss you'll get your wish and we will end this conflict soon. But as he said there is only one way to end this." Solace pushes his forces into her kingdom but Yang activates her trap card, _Giant Nevermore,_ to which if she rolls a seven or higher then she'll be able to annihilate his invading army and in response march her army to his capital; she rolls the dice and lands a 10. But just as she begins the attack Solace finally uses the three cards with the first being a trap card, _Divine Monsoon,_ by sacrificing two of his front line units the _Giant Nevermore_ is quickly destroyed and her advancing army is bogged down. Afterwards he uses Weiss's captured Vacuo soldiers boost, to fight in hazardous conditions, to ambush the bogged down soldiers of Mistral. Then activates the two other cards, _Iron Determination_ which allows units to attack twice and ignores any hazards in the area, and _Atlesian Super-Carriers_ which allow Ruby's captured Mantle soldiers, who have been reserved for defensive plays, to be moved both over land and seas in bulk to the front lines and thanks to _Iron Determination_ the monsoon has no affect on the carriers. In the end Mistral's army is destroyed and the remaining Vacuo soldiers attacks the remaining soldiers outside Yang's capital while the Mantle soldiers, with the support of the super-carriers as air support, invades the city and in a quick one-two move Mistral's capital is captured by Vale's combined assault.

"No, not my capital! You monster!" Yang shouts in disappointment but Solace only laughs like an evil villain in response.

"How long have you had those cards?" Ruby asks.

"Ever since I annexed your kingdom." Solace answers.

"So you mean to tell me that you could've invaded my kingdom two hours ago?" Yang asks.

"Yup." Solace answers.

"So why didn't you?" Yang asks.

"Well because our war changed. It no longer became the battle for ideology or justice, it became our way of life. Our economy, our culture our society became embroiled with our centuries long conflict and for us to end it quickly would've surely left the people of Remnant no longer fighting for nations but for themselves. So yeah, war has changed" Solace says as if he was a grizzled war veteran from this fictional universe. "Plus I wanted to see on how you would react when I completely destroy you after getting a false sense of attaining victory."

You're a dick!" Yang says in disbelief.

"I know and I'm sorry."

With the game finally over the team then heads to the cafeteria where they grabbed their meals for dinner, but throughout the whole time Ruby pesters Yang on how she was completely and mercilessly destroyed by Solace and it wasn't until they were done eating when their petty fighting stopped. But the whole time the group was together Solace couldn't help but notice that Blake has been gone for quite some time and began to worry again. He became really concerned on where she could've gone and it wasn't until he walked the team to their room when his worries were quelled. Upon Blake's bed she left a note saying she has to take care of something personal down at Vale and would be back soon. Without even having to say it to the rest of the team they all agree to look for her, they all get changed out of their uniforms and into their normal clothes then regroups at the front of the academy where they plan to split up and search the city until they can find Blake. Upon dispersing Solace has already a good idea on what's she's doing in the city and searches the most likely place to shelter shady looking people, the Industrial-District of Vale.


	7. Chapter 6: A Cat's Tale

Solace reaches the Industrial-District, taking him only half an hour via taxi and as soon as he exits the vehicle his guard was already up. The city, during the day, is relatively quiet with the exception of a few petty crimes here and there but something about the night time changes the whole outlook to being dangerous. Solace begins his search and wanders the district looking for Blake, but every time he sees a person he couldn't help but label them as a potential threat. This kind of profiling isn't good for him as it is distracting. Lucky for Solace though, life throws him a bone for this one moment and he catches a glimpse of her going around a corner and into an alleyway. He quickly runs after her to catch up but as he makes it to the corner, he slows down and takes a peek to see on what's on the other side. He sees Blake further down the alleyway and is in front of a tall man wearing, on what looked like a white mask, and is donned in black clothing, save for the white sleeveless tunic he wore over it; the tunic also contained a red beast emblem on the front and back of it, most likely the logo for whatever organization the man belonged to. The man was standing in front of an entrance of a warehouse and was having some kind of conversation with Blake, but unfortunately for Solace he couldn't hear it. Their conversation wasn't long though, and the man steps aside to let Blake in the building, then resumes his posts when she gets inside. For Solace, the situation quickly turned south as the logo that the man wore, belonged to the infamous Faunus terrorists organization called the White Fang. Solace stops peeking and backs off from the corner, he couldn't believe on what he just saw, _why was Blake talking to a member of the White Fang?_ He thought. Solace didn't want to assume the worse, that she was an agent for them, and decides to go inside to find Blake, and hear her side of the story. He looks around the area and spots a fire-escape ladder well that was above him, but just a little bit out of his reach. He takes a couple steps back then sprints forward to the wall in front of him. The momentum gained from his run allowed him to scale up far enough for one of his hands to grab the base of the ladder, and when he knew his grip was solid, he pulled himself up and got his other hand to grab onto the next bar. Solace would continue climbing up until he reached the top of this two-story building, and from there he would quietly make his way across the roof to get closer to the warehouse. The building he was on was the office section for whatever company owned it, and was connected to the warehouse he needed to get into. To help keep the warehouse cool there were windows located high above it's walls, and were usually kept open to let the air flow in, and lucky for Solace, they were big enough to let him climb on through into one of it's rooms. By the looks of it, this room was meant to hold onto documents that were being stored in small cardboard boxes. But as soon as he makes it inside, a White Fang grunt spots him infiltrating and confronts Solace.

"Hey you, hold it right there! Hands on where I can see them!" Solace faces him and slowly raises his arms into the air, while at the same time the the soldier walks forward with his sub-machine gun pointed at his torso. Being a terrorists organization does come with its perks, one be it being supplied with firearms. The smg, that the soldier was packing was like any other in it's class; lightweight, compact, and low in recoil. Seeing that the environment was a warehouse, picking to wield this class of weaponry did make the most sense, as it was easy to control when maneuvering in tight spaces. So if Solace was going to do something then he'd have to do it fast, "you got a lot of nerve sneaking your way in to our home, hum-" right as the soldier get close enough, Solace makes his move. He shifts to his left and uses his right arm to push upward on the barrel of the weapon causing the man to lose control and aim high, while at the same time he uses his other hand to switch the weapon's safety on, afterwards he backs off. Solace did this quick enough that when the soldier tried to squeeze the trigger, his weapon refused to fire. The man looks down on his weapon to see on what was wrong with it, but by doing so he fails to see Solace going in again for another attack. He uses both of his hands to get a firm grip on the enemy's smg, then jabs him on the gut with the weapon to loosen the grip, and jabs again on the jaw to knock the soldier out. Once again Solace was able to execute this maneuver quickly, and as of result nobody now knows of his infiltration and he acquires a disguise that could help him go about undetected. A smile forms on his face, as he realizes on how this was all possible because of the training that the Vanguards gave him. Even though he had a falling out with the group near the end of his service, he couldn't help but still love them, for they were still his family.

After reminiscing in his memories, Solace undresses the soldier of his white tunic and Grimm mask, that all White Fang members wore, and donned it on to himself; the clothes he was already wearing were colored in black, so he didn't have to completely strip the knocked-out man of everything, and just to play it safe he took the man's weapon and spare ammunition as well. Once all ready to go he made his way out of the room and closed the door behind him. Things were surprisingly going well for him, not only was he able to infiltrate the building, but he was also able to knock-out a guard quietly, and leave him in the room to hide. When Solace left the room he found himself on top of a catwalk that ran across the entirety of the warehouse's walls. Down below him the floor was crowded with Faunus who sympathized with the White Fang, and all of them were wearing the symbolic Grimm mask. Everyone down below had their own personal reason of joining the radical organization, but to Solace it didn't matter, every single one of them was his enemy. Which means that he's outnumbered, and should find Blake as quick as possible. He acts as a White Fang soldier on patrol, and walks along the catwalk until he finds a set of stairs that brought him down to the main floor, from there he continues his facade and walks at the outskirts of the huge crowd, while at the same time looking towards the center to spot her. Solace ends up lapping around the crowd about nine times before finally finding Blake; she was shifting around the masses, trying to get to the front of it, and had she'd not been on the move, he would've found her. Not wasting anymore time he goes into the crowd and towards Blake's position. While moving in, he was able to hear better on what everyone was talking about, they varied from group to group but overall they were all the same; they were discussing their hatred for the entirety of humanity. Solace becomes a bit nervous from hearing the threats and the vile deeds they would commit. So much so that he had wished that he'd never heard any of them. He continues pressing forward however, and as he walked he had thought that he would've had to talked to the people to make way for him, but to his surprise they were doing it on their own. Maybe they thought he was one of them and so respected him enough to be polite, maybe it was the uniform, or maybe it was the sub-machine gun he was holding in his hands. Either way, it was working well for him. Solace was getting closer to Blake when the lights all of the sudden gets dim, and the crowd falls silent. He looks around to see on what was going on but as he does, the lights are turned back on and focused onto the stage in front of the crowd. A man walks towards the center of the stage, and his appearance surprises everyone inside, including Solace. The man takes a bow before speaking.

"Good evening, everyone, how are we all doing tonight?" The man addresses the crowd.

"What the hell is going on? Why is a human here?" A member of the crowd angrily yells in response of the man's question, and the rest were left pondering the same thing. Solace, himself was confused from this scene as well. The White Fang organization was created by Faunus, for Faunus, they never allowed humans in to there ranks before and they certainly still don't to this day. So for this man to stand in front of this gathering and not be killed, definitely raises many eyebrows.

"Settle down everyone, settle down. It is true. I am human, and I'm well aware that we hum ans aren't exactly the favorites of the White Fang. But please believe me when I say, they aren't my favorites either. So with this, we share a common enemy, and if you ask me I smell an opportunity."

"Sounds like you want to use us!" One of them suggests.

"Oh no, no, no. I do not want to use any of you. I, in the deepest depths of my heart, truly do care about all of you and sympathize with your cause. Now I understand that I do not share your, rich, struggle in history. But I do share the feeling of being victimized. Yes, believe it or not! I have been victimized by my own people, for many years, and I've had enough! Ever since I was a wee child, my family and I have been wrongly persecuted for committing heathenish crimes, just because of our lowly class level! Isn't that just wrong? I know this is something all of you should be able to relate, so how about we band together to fight against these corrupt individuals! Kings, senators, mayors, generals, huntsman, it doesn't matter on who it is. So long as we're together, we'll be able to give them a taste of their own medicines! So I ask you, not as a human but as an individual who is sick and tired of this corrupt system. Will you not help me topple down this forsaken power and rebuild it from the ground up!"

Solace has no idea on who this man was, but he was certainly impressed from the level of charisma that this person possessed; the crowd felt the same way as well. Every single one of it's members were more than motivated to take action upon hearing his, "plead for assistance," and by the looks of it he may have just convinced these people to accept him into their ranks.

"Wait, what is you name?" One of the people asks.

"My name shouldn't matter, since I am a no one. But if you must know, my name is Roman Torchwick!" The man responds.

Solace now has the name of the man, and decides to keep it in mind. He then goes back to his search for Blake, and lucky for him, she was standing a few feet ahead of him. When he finally gets close enough, he taps her shoulder to grab her attention.

"Yes, can I help you with something?" Blake turned around immediately when Solace touched her, and for a second he didn't recognize on who she was, since she was wearing a Grimm mask as well.

"The boss wants to talk to you. He sent me to get you." Solace says while making his voice sound raspy.

"Well tell your boss I don't want to, so leave me alone." She was about to face away from him when Solace grabs onto her arm, "hey what are you doing? Let go, of me!"

"Blake, it's me." Solace whispers to her with his normal voice.

"Wait, what are you- never mind, go ahead and lead on." Solace then leads her by these big storage crates, it was away from the crowd and none of the guards seemed to patrol the area. Once the two knew that no one was watching them, they both remove their masks to show their faces. "Solace, what are you doing here? How did you even find this place?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, Blake! Why did you disappear on us like that?"

"Didn't you guys read the note? I said I had to take care of something personal."

"Yes we did read it. But none of us would've ever thought of you coming down to see these... monsters!"

"Don't call them that, their not monsters! At least not all of them. They're just people who've been hurt..."

"Blake, why are you even down here? Why do you even care about them?"

She lets out a sigh, "if I tell you on why. Will you promise to keep it between us?"

"I do."

"When I said I had to handle something personal, I wasn't lying. You see. I was part of the White Fang for many years, before coming to Beacon. I was at every rally they hosted, and wherever there was injustice being done to a Faunus, I'd be one of the first ones to respond to their cry for help. I loved being part of the White Fang. But recently, their tactics changed, they've become more aggressive. Taking in more and more wet work and sabotage missions against humans. That's not the organization I signed myself up for, years ago. So when I found my opportunity, I left it, and hoped that it ended right there. But now they're here in Vale, and I want to know on why!"

As Blake was speaking, Solace hears heavy footsteps getting closer and closer to their position. Without a second thought he pulls Blake closer to him and wraps his arm around her, pretending to feel her up.

"Solace, what are you-!"

"Shh, be quiet and just play along." He whispers to her.

A single White Fang soldier spots the two, but more importantly Solace, "hey you, what do you think you're doing! You have a job to do, soldier. Now follow me, we're escorting Mr. Torchwick to his car, and from there on to the docks." The soldier begins to walk away.

Meanwhile Blake blushes from this rather embarrassing situation, "um, Solace can you let me go now, please?"

"Sorry, about all of that. What am I going to do?"

"Go with him, we need to find out more about this Roman guy."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, I'll be close by. Now go!"

Solace's obedient nature kicks in, and he follows her order without a moments hesitation. The soldier that had spotted the two, wasn't too far from where he was originally standing and was waiting for Solace to catch up. Once the two were side by side, they walk forward to meet up with Roman. "So was that chick your girlfriend. or something?"

"Oh, uh, yeah! She's my girlfriend alright!"

"You didn't sound too confident about you answer" the soldier remarks.

"Sorry, we just started dating and thought that maybe, if I brought her to this rally, she would like me more."

The soldier laughs, "don't stress it out too much there buddy, just relax and let everything come naturally to you."

The two make their way out of the warehouse, and once outside they then head towards the front of the building where Roman's car was parked. When the two arrives at the location, the soldier walks to the driver seat to greet him, but when he got to the window he was surprised to see a small girl manning the wheel. Solace didn't mind the two and stood next to the rear passenger door, waiting for Roman's arrival. The expected man finally arrives, being escorted by two White Fang grunts.

" You'll have to send my regards to your boss for bringing me in such a captive audience, and the staff was impeccably helpful!" Roman says to the two soldiers as he approaches the car, and Solace opens the door. "Alas, I bid you all a good night," Roman gets inside the car, "well are you going to join me or not?" Solace hesitates a bit at first, but he quickly gets his composure back and gets inside as well. After the soldier accompanying Solace gets in the car also, the vehicle's engine starts and the woman drives the group towards the docks.

While the car was making it's way towards it's destination, Blake was tailing the vehicle from the roof tops. She couldn't always keep up with the car but lucky for her, the traffic lights on occasion would cause the vehicle to stop, and allow her to catch up, and the roads that the car was taking would force them to go around buildings, when Blake can easily cut right through.

"Gotta love the night time of the city, eh?" Roman jokingly says to Solace; which he responds with a shrug, "oh come on, don't be like that. Listen, I'm just trying to get a conversation going to pass the time. Oh wait, I know! How about we introduce ourselves. I'm Roman. Now you."

"Uh, people call me Fenris." Solace answers.

"Fenris huh, does that relate to your animal side or something? Speaking of which, do you mind telling me on what it is?"

"It's just my name. Also, my 'animal side' is that of a wolf."

"Hmmm."

The rest of the trip was silent as Roman didn't seem to have anymore questions and Solace didn't have anymore to say. When the group finally arrived at the docks, everyone inside gets out and to Solace's surprise the area was pretty quite and empty; not a single person was to be seen anywhere.

"So Fenris, how long have you been with the White Fang?" Roman asks as he gets out of the car, with a cane in his hand.

"For awhile now" Solace answers back.

"Uh huh," Roman aims up his cane towards Solace torso. "So I'm not going to lie to you, 'Fenris.' I know you're not a member of the White Fang and that you've been putting up a facade for some reason. Who ever you are, you're certainly not leaving here alive with that amount of information in your head."

Right as Roman finishes talking he puts his finger on the trigger of his cane and begins to put pressure on it, but right before his cane could fire it's projectile, a bullet was fired from the distance and hits it off of his hand. The group look towards the direction of who ever fired their weapon, and everyone sees Blake standing on the roof of one of the warehouses in the docks and wielding her Gambol Shroud; the weapon functions as both as a gun and a bladed weapon, for now it was in it's pistol mode so the bladed portion of it was folded downwards. Solace was genuinely impressed from her shot, as the distance she was from the group looked like she would've required a high level of accuracy to hit her target.

"Oh you got to be kidding me, there's more of you !?" Roman angrily says.

Blake takes aim and opens fire once again with her pistol, but this time aiming for Roman's chest. Unfortunately, he is saved by the woman that was driving the group to the docks. She unfolds the parasol that she's been carrying around, and it was enough to stop the bullets from reaching their target. Seeing that she's done her part, she grins in amusement then taunts Blake to come after her, to which she takes the bait and gets down from the roof to charge at the short woman. Meanwhile, Solace quickly attacks the White Fang soldier that came along with them by kicking him in the groin as hard as he could, before following it up with an uppercut to the faunus's jaw. The soldier is completely taken by surprise from Solace's attack as he was still distracted by Blake, but nonetheless he was unable to properly prepare himself for the attacks, and as of result is knocked out cold.

Roman quickly retrieves his cane back after the woman shielded him, and after seeing Solace knocked out his escort, he aims his cane and shoots explosive rounds towards Solace. But lucky for him, Solace sees the attack coming and backs away quickly to avoid being seriously injured, but the explosive property of the round shoots debris and shrapnel towards him but thanks to his aura the injuries he sustained were healed.

After Blake was able to close in the distance between her and the woman, she unfolds the blade to change it to it's sword form and initiates with a downward slash then follows it up with a thrust. The woman's reflexes were a lot better than on what she let on, and she swiftly dodges the slash then uses her parasol to block the thrust, afterwards she goes on the offensive and unleashes a powerful back kick onto Blake's stomach. Blake was caught off guard from the woman's speed and was unable to block her kick, she backs away from the woman then regroups with Solace.

"Looks like this is game over for you two, kiddies!" Roman says, as the woman regroups with him. He then aims up his cane again and is about to open fire on the two when Yang comes in to their rescue and punches Roman on the torso, and tries to punch the woman too. Yang's gauntlets, the Ember Celica , unleashes powerful concussive shots upon impact on their target; Roman is sent flying a couple feet away while the woman was able to quickly dodge her attack but is being kept on her toes as an unidentified shooter fires on her, giving her little time to consolidate. Even with the pressure being put on the woman, she was able to move her way back to Roman and shield her with her parasol. Once the two were together they made their way back to the car, put the knocked out soldier into their vehicle and while at the same time the woman shielded them with her parasol, and made their escape, but before they could leave Roman lets out his final words. "I'm afraid we'll have to put this encounter to an end kiddos!"

As Roman's crew makes their get away, Yang makes her way to Blake and expresses the amount of concern she had for her when she disappeared. Meanwhile the unknown shooter makes her way to the group and it's revealed that it was actually Ruby who's been suppressing the short woman.

"Blake what were you doing? Who were they?" Ruby asks.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you all, but I had heard rumors that the White Fang were operating in Vale and so I wanted to know on why." Blake answers.

"So you just run off without asking us to help you out?" Yang asks.

"I didn't think any of you would've wanted to help out?"Blake says.

"Are you kidding me? We wouldn't be interested in investigating criminal organizations, and fighting them? That sounds absolutely like fun, so of course we'll be all for it!" Yang says excitedly.

"Yeah plus your part of the team too, Blake. So you're family, and just like a real family, if you ever need help just go ahead and ask." Ruby adds on.

"As much as I'd hate to say it, we may have our differing opinions but she's right. You're part of the family too." Weiss says.

"Wow, that's pretty nice -" Blake is interrupted.

"Also, it'd be bad for my reputation if you were killed or arrested." Weiss adds on to her previous comment.

Blake is a bit irritated by her comment, but she decides to just let it go and just be happy that her teammates are more than happy to give out a helping hand. The sense of camaraderie filling the air puts Solace in a good mood as well, they all remind him of the men he led and hopes that one day they could be reunited as well.

Nobody has anymore reasons to stay at the docks and they all made their way back to Beacon Academy.


	8. Chapter 7: Fleeting Moments

Three weeks passes by after Solace and Team RWBY had their little encounter at the docks. Through out that time Blake and Solace remained quiet about what they had seen and heard, but they kept their eyes and ears open for any White Fang related activities, since the two were the only ones to have heard of Roman's ambitions for the organization. Thankfully for them, no major trouble had knocked on their door and things remained stable. Their actions, or more specifically Solace's actions, did not go unnoticed however as the Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin had kept an eye out on the lone student. The good professor had always kept tabs on Solace, wanting to know on how he was fairing as a NOVA, and after reading the report of his mission to locate Blake he was genuinely impressed on his actions and decided to pay him a little more attention. Based on what he has observed, everything about Solace was pretty normal when compared to the other students at school, but Ozpin was puzzled on why he and Blake neither reported exactly on what they had saw. After patiently waiting for Solace to possibly come out and tell the truth, Ozpin decides to make his move and calls for him to report to his office immediately. As soon as Solace had gotten the message, he wastes no time to go to the headmaster's office, and before he even comprehended it he was standing in front of Ozpin's door, waiting for permission to enter. The headmaster notices him waiting at his door and gives permission to come in, to which Solace obliges and walks forward to position himself in front of Ozpin's desk; where the man was sitting down and drinking his coffee.

"Good morning sir, you wanted to see me?" Solace asks.

The professor says nothing and he sets his cup of coffee down on a circular coaster that was decorated with Beacon's emblem in the center. He then fixes up his posture by straightening his back, then clears his throat, "so Mr. Krieg, how are you doing this morning?"

"I'm still waking up but overall I'm doing just fine, sir."

"That's good to hear, very good. You haven't ran into trouble as of recent, have you?"

"No sir, I haven't."

"You know, keeping information to yourself is very unbecoming of you."

"I'm at a lost, head-"

"Solace I know full well on what you encountered while looking for Ms. Belladonna. But on what I don't know is on why neither of you two mentioned it to me or one of the teachers. So please, enlighten me on your reasons."

"Sir, please understand. The reason neither of us talked about it was because we thought by reporting it to anyone, things would've been pushed forward against them, which they would've responded by going even further underground. Making it near-impossible to keep tabs on them."

"So you doubt our ability to deal with problems?"

"No sir, I don't. I believe you have the resources that'll allow you to solve anything that comes your way. It's just for this occasion, I had no idea on what to do. I was told that the world I'll be entering is not like the military, no chain of command. So when I got back to Beacon that night, I had no idea on who to report the whole situation to. So I figured I'd just keep tabs on them for the mean time; at least until somebody came up to me and started asking questions."

"Solace, do you not understand by withholding information like that, you and Ms. Belladonna have endangered the lives of hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives? Lucky for you two however, nothing happened. But if something did, how would've you responded?"

"With the risk of sounding very cocky; I would've personally dealt with the situation sir."

"But you're just a kid."

"With all due respect sir, I am not a kid. Or at least, not like the ones here. You've read my profile, you should know on what kind of life I lived in before coming here to Beacon. So it shouldn't have come to you as a surprise when my response is: that I would've dealt with it personally."

"Would you have dealt with it, if you're life was in the balance?"

"If you're asking me if I would've been too scared to do anything if my life was in danger, then I'll tell you that my answer would've still been the same, sir. I understand that keeping us safe is your utmost priority, but I've been trained to deal with people like them before. So even with my life at the balance, I'd still go in, head first, and take the fight to the enemy."

"Your answer couldn't be more wrong." Solace says nothing, and looks down as his pride is hurt from Ozpin's response. "My utmost priority is to make sure, that anyone who attends my school will become a huntsman. " Solace looks back up, and directly into the headmaster's eyes, "and when that huntsman is off in the real world, I'd expect them to always keep everyone's well being in mind. Even going as far as laying down their own life to ensure the survival of others. Based on you're response and records, I'd say you're already half-way there. Although if I were you, I would have brought a fully competent team to back me up. As much as self-sacrifice is held with high regards, I think it's safe to say that, everyone would prefer to have lost no one so they all can celebrate their victory together. Do I make myself clear, Solace?"

"Crystal clear, sir."

A smile forms on Ozpin's face, "good now run along to what ever class you have today, and for heaven's sake will you learn to relax. This is an academy not the military."

"I will try sir. Have a nice day."

Ozpin would respond in kind before Solace leaves his office and goes to his first class of the day, which was being lectured by Professor Oobleck. The time he spent at the headmaster's office doesn't alter his schedule for the day at all, and he was able to make it to class in time without rushing. The time he spends in the class was quite fun as well as enlightening, as he was enjoying the history lesson of Vale and the professor's opinion on the matters; however hard it may have been to keep up with the lessons, due to him speaking very, very quickly. The class was scheduled to last for about three hours, and usually, whenever he's in a classroom longer than an hour he ends up losing interest in the subject. Lucky for Solace the lecture wasn't mundane. He was very interested in the lecture, and time seemed to have just flown by without his notice. But when he and the rest of his classmates were dismissed from the class, he had no complaints about it, and he left the room like everyone else. He walks down the hallway to his next class, when he realizes he has a good hour before it starts. Solace thinks on what he could do to kill time, when he see's Weiss walking the same direction as him. He increases his pace to catch up to her, and when he was close enough, he taps her shoulder to grab her attention but it only startles her as she gasps in response.

"Oh, it's just you. Please refrain from sneaking up on me like that, in the future" Weiss says.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to talk" Solace says.

"Talk, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, how's your team doing so far?"

"If you must know, my team is doing superbly well. We are excelling in our combat techniques, and thanks to me, our academics have been keeping up with us as well."

"Do you ever stop and wonder, on how cold you sound sometimes?"

"How rude, you're supposed to be an asset to my team, and here you are insulting me!"

"I didn't mean to insult you Weiss. But you were coming off a bit obnoxious, and I just wanted to point that out so you don't give the wrong impression to the people you meet."

"Wow Solace, you really know on how to make a girl feel special. Tell you what, the next time I want to be insulted, I'll just go to you ok?" Weiss increases her pace and in turn quickly creates distance between the two.

"Oh come on, I was just being honest" he says a bit louder than his usual indoor voice. "You really aren't like anything your father talked about..." Solace says under his breathe, but Weiss some how heard him and she stops in her tracks, and he does the same. She turns around to face him but doesn't say anything for about 10 seconds, making Solace confused on what to do, " uh Weiss?"

"Listen, want to grab a cup of coffee or something?" Her tone of voice changed from irritated to solemn, and this confuses him again.

"Sure, I'd like to?"

Solace expected for them to grab a cup of coffee down at the academy's cafeteria, but to his surprise Weiss leads him to her team's room. When they enter the room, he just looks around and is intrigued on how her team decided to make four normal beds to two improvised bunk beds; it's been like this since the beginning of the school year but it always fascinates him whenever he comes over to visit. Weiss goes to her drawer and turns on the coffee machine, that was sitting idle, to brew their drinks.

"Before I forget, how do you like your coffee; sugar or cream?" Weiss asks.

"Cream."

"I only got vanilla, if that's ok with you."

"I'm fine with that."

"That's good. It'll take about 10 minutes for the coffee to be ready, but in the mean time I'd actually like to discuss my father with you. If that's alright?"

"Oh, uh, sure I don't mind."

She smiles before sitting down on her bed and making herself comfortable, "when we were walking in the hallways earlier, you mentioned about my farther talking about me. That's the second time you've done that. I never really knew my farther growing up, being that he was always away, and yet you said 'I wasn't anything on how my father talked about.' So please, can you tell me on how he described me to you?"

Solace scratches the back of his head, as he's a bit hesitant in telling her exactly on what she wants. He has no idea on how she's doing with her family, and he would certainly hate it if he somehow contributes to pushing them apart. But when he looks on to her face, he falls from his doubts and decides to share the info, "well like I said before, he didn't really talked about your family that much, or as often. But when he did, he would describe you as if you're the most perfect living being to ever have come in existence. I understand that, since he was your father that claim can be very bias, but the way he described your upbringings made me think you went through a pretty lonely childhood. He told me that he pretty much had a hand in managing your studies, diet, sparring and even your fitness activities; the reason being that he wanted to, and I quote 'bring you up to the highest standards of society.' He would then tell me, of the gifts he would give you as a reward for your hard work but also, as an apology for not being there. The gifts were pretty sweet of him to do, but even I knew that wasn't enough to apologize for being away from family. With the amount of time I've spent with your father on his business trips, I had guessed that he doesn't really get to see you enough. So in a way, I had felt real sorry for you."

"Why did you feel sorry for me?"

"Because deep down, I had a feeling. Even though this girl, that I had never met, was being pampered and showered with gifts. She would never be truly happy, because the one thing she had always wanted was the attention of her father." As soon as Solace had finished talking, he notices that Weiss was covering up her face with her hands and sniffling, "Weiss are you-" the brewer's alarm goes off to notify them that it was ready to be served.

"I should go get that," she scurries over to the machine and tried to prepare the drinks for them, but she was having a hard time trying to keep everything steady. Solace quickly responds by assisting her in pouring the coffee into the two mugs waiting to be filled, "thanks but you didn't really have to."

"Weiss, you don't have to-" Solace is interrupted by her pushing him away and getting a hold on the pot.

"I have to go into the bathroom for a moment. The cream is next to the brewer, go ahead and help yourself." She puts the pot back down in the brewer, then walks into the bathroom and closes the door behind her; while walking she made sure to always had her back face him so that Solace not see her face. While she attended to her personal matters, he decides to go ahead and finish making his coffee by putting the cream in and stirring it. He wanted to wait for her to finish in whatever she was doing, but it seemed like she was going to be inside for awhile, and he goes ahead and drinks his share. The whole time he was drinking, Weiss remained inside the bathroom, while at the same time he pondered whether it was a good idea to have told her the information she desired. Time would once again, fly right over Solace, as he finishes his coffee without his notice, but at the same time Weiss finished her personal matters and finally comes out of the bathroom, "thanks for telling me all of that Solace."

"It was my pleasure, but are you ok, you kind of stormed off to the bathroom out of nowhere?"

"I'm fine Solace, don't worry about it. But can you please do me a favor, and keep this strictly between us? I would very much appreciate that."

"My lips are sealed," Weiss would give him a hug for agreeing to her request.

"Oh no, you finished you're coffee!"

"Well you were kind of in there for awhile. Your's is still right there, but I'm pretty sure it's cold."

"Eh, you're probably right but more importantly, class is about to start soon. So I have to go like, right now!"

"Professor Port's, right?"

"Correct."

"Well then I guess we should get going."

"I guess we should."

The two gathers their things then sets off to Professor Port's class; while walking together, Solace notices that Weiss isn't acting like she normally does. She seemed distracted, her head looking towards the ground instead of forward.

"Hey, Weiss." Solace says.

"Hmm?" Weiss responds.

"Are you sure you're alright; you seemed like you're distracted right now?"

"I'm fine Solace, really, I am. I'm just thinking of things right now. Nothing noteworthy to bring up."

"Alright, if you say so."

Still on their way to the classroom, the two would turn a corner and at that point the rest of Team RWBY was found. The others were also on their way to Professor Port's class, so they decide to travel together.

"Solace! How are you doing this morning?" Ruby asks.

"I'm doing just peachy, Ruby. Thanks for asking." Solace responds.

"Hmm, so is there a reason on why you and Weiss were walking together?" Yang asks, jokingly.

"I was dismissed from my class about an hour ago, and I ran into her."

"And what were you two, doing in that hour?" Yang asks, with a big grin on her face.

"I was invited to your room and we-"Solace is interrupted by Weiss.

"I invited him to share a cup of coffee with me, while he told me stories of his time while in the military."

"Is that it? Are you sure there isn't anything else that happen, eh, eh?" Yang asks Solace as she nudge on his arm.

"That's it, we had time to kill so we just got a cup of coffee and talked." Solace answers.

"Really? If you just chit chatted over coffee. Then why did you went to our room?" Ruby asks.

"Well we could've gone to the cafeteria and got some coffee, but I had my own in our room so, I thought it made more sense to brew my own." Weiss answers.

"Are you sure that was the only thing you brewed?" Yang asks before laughing.

Weiss gasps, "and please do tell, on what exactly are you implying!?" She becomes very frustrated at Yang as she yells at her, while at the same time embarrassed as her face blushes. The girls and Solace laughs in response to her losing her elegant composure.

Yang would eventually stop teasing Weiss and allows her to regain her cool, which was for her benefit as they arrive at Professor Port's class. The group would sit next to each other when they take their seats, and Weiss would purposely sit next to Solace; she's been ensuring to sit next to him ever since the beginning of the semester, but Solace never really knew on why. At first he thought of it as coincidental but after doing multiple times, he began to think there was more into it. By sitting next to him more and more however, Weiss is giving Yang ammunition for her teasing. But she doesn't seem to be bothered by it all too much, as the teases do not deter her from sitting down next to Solace. Professor Port was already in the classroom and as soon as it officially starts, he waste no time and gets into the lesson for the day. Unlike Professor Oobleck, Solace wasn't really too fond of Port. The two are not on bad terms or have any problems with each other, if anything Professor Port is actually a pretty good teacher; the one thing that does bother Solace is that the man segues into his personal stories excessively. He would like to tell the professor to get back to the subject at hand when ever he does it, but for the sake of being nice he keeps it all to himself. Lucky for him however, today's lesson was going to be a bit different. After going through the standard formalities of greeting the class, a screen rolls down in front of the blackboard that was located in front of the class. The window shutters would come down to block the sunlight coming in, then the lights in the room itself would dim, afterwards a projector was turned on and the screen began to play a movie. The Professor thought it would be a good idea to educate the children about their grim reality they live in, and plays documentaries of tragic events that have occurred after the Great War. The videos that were shown held some sentimental value to Solace however, as he participated in some of them. Watching these triggers his brain to remember the things he saw, smell, hear and feel, on those days and he began to feel anxious. Things would only get worse as the video moves into the Black Marsh Massacre; the documentary claims that this tragedy was an act of hatred against Faunus, when in reality it was miscommunication. Weiss clearly see that he's being bothered by this and tries to comfort him by putting one of her arms around him; she doesn't really know on why he's being bothered by this segment of the video, but regardless of this he appreciated her gesture and was able to calm down enough to get through the class.


End file.
